Good grief, how about that San Clemente Christmas tree?

San Clemente's new Christmas tree, as it looks by day outside the Community Center. FRED SWEGLES, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Comparing Christmas trees

FASHION ISLAND TREE

Type: White fir

Height: 92 feet

Number of lights and ornaments: 15,000

Origin: Mount Shasta

SAN CLEMENTE TREE

Type: Canary Island pine

Height: 32 feet

Number of lights and ornaments: 3,000-4,000

Origin: San Gorgonio Park in San Clemente

CHARLIE BROWN TREE

Type: Unknown, but at least it's not aluminum

Height: Maybe 3 feet

Number of lights and ornaments: 1

Origin: Christmas tree lot

What do you think?

Do you like or lament the new Christmas tree at Avenida Del Mar and Calle Seville?

Email your opinion to fswegles@ocregister.com.

There were cheers in San Clemente when the lights went on, celebrating a new 32-foot-tall community Christmas tree transplanted to a downtown corner near the Community Center from the city's San Gorgonio Park.

But not everyone was in bliss.

"It's never going to grow right," said Gerald Figliuzzi, a local retiree. "The trunk is crooked. It has a barren side.

"And the tree is 25 – halfway through its life span.

"(With) the location and all, I think a better-looking tree over a period of years would have been a good expenditure of money."

Figliuzzi knows a bit about trees. For 25 years, as a construction/maintenance superintendent for Los Angeles County parks and recreation, he set up. L.A. County's annual Christmas tree, a live tree planted in a park at season's end.

San Clemente resident Jerry Collamer loves the new tree. "It's a Charlie Brown tree!" he said, invoking the "Peanuts" kid who famously chose a scrawny, barren tree from a Christmas lot.

Dennis Reed, manager of city beaches and parks, said the city tried a broker, but those trees were expensive. He found trees being pulled from a median in San Bernardino but feared one might not adapt to a seaside climate.

He's happy with the homegrown one. "If it makes it another 20 to 30 years, I think we'll be very happy," he said.

Jacque Boulware lives across the street from the new tree and doesn't mind that it's imperfect. "Trees aren't perfect unless they're fake," she said. "We've just got to give it a chance to grow in and fill out and it's going to be beautiful."

Figliuzzi doesn't expect that. "This tree is already past its youth," he said. "Time will tell. If visitors come to town, I show them the sights and it'd be nice to have a real nice tree.

Related Links

San Clemente's new Christmas tree, as it looks by day outside the Community Center. FRED SWEGLES, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
San Clemente's homegrown Christmas tree, as it looks at night. FRED SWEGLES, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
The Christmas tree at Fashion Island in Newport Beach towers 92 feet over the middle of the mall. MICHAEL GOULDING, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
The little tree in the 1965 TV special “A Charlie Brown Christmas” plays a key role in Charlie Brown's struggle to find the true meaning of Christmas. You can even buy your own version. KOHLS.COM

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